It was supposed to have been brought to Alexandria by Ptolemy and was in a golden coffin at least until Augustus Caesar defeated Antony and Cleopatra and absorbed Egypt into the Roman Empire.
I'll refer to the celebrity death thread when I talked a few months ago about the death of author Clive Cussler. In his book Treasure, Cussler supposes that Alexander's body along with most of the contents of the lost Library of Alexandria were hidden away by a Roman scholar. Evidence suggests he brought it to the New World. Cussler's hero, Dirk Pitt, eventually finds everything buried in a hillside in Texas off the Rio Grande.
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution defining the look of the American flag. The resolution states that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” Legend has it Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross sewed the first flag at the request of George Washington, and that Ross proposed the use of 5-pointed stars rather than 6-points. Historians say the evidence for or against the story is inconclusive. On June 14, 1940, German troops enter and occupy Paris. The first order of business is to impose an 8 pm curfew on Parisians. On the morning of June 14, 2017, 66-year old James Hodgkinson walks up to an Alexandria, VA park baseball field, and on confirming that the ballplayers on the field are Congressional Republicans practicing for an annual charity game, produces a gun and opens fire. Sixty rounds later, five people are wounded, including GOP House Whip and New Orleans area Representative Steve Scalise. Police quickly arrived and exchanged fire with Hodgkinson, killing him. The most seriously wounded of the 5 is Scalise, who will undergo numerous surgeries before he can return to Congress 3 months later. On June 14, 1922, President Warren G. Harding's remarks at the dedication of a memorial to "Star Spangled Banner" composer Francis Scott Key are broadcast over radio. Harding is the first president to have his voice heard over the new medium. On June 14, 1976, "The Gong Show" debuts on NBC TV. Producer/host Chuck Barris once remarked that it would be far easier to find content for a "talent show" that promoted bad acts rather than good. Nevertheless, alumni of "The Gong Show" include Disco star Cheryl Lynn, child star Andrea McCardle (Broadway's first "Annie"), Pee Wee Herman and 80's group Oingo Boingo. But its the novelty acts that will drive the show through 3 years of network time and decades in syndication. Who can forget the Popsicle Twins? https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=161dYV5ehGY&feature=emb_logo Edit: Didn't see this in either or my sources, which is pretty disappointing. Today is the 245th birthday of the US Army.
On June 15, 1775, George Washington accepts command of the Continental Army. He is appointed to the position unanimously by the second Continental Congress. On June 15, 1215, King John of England puts his seal to the "Great Charter" - in Latin, Magna Carta. The document is essentially a peace treaty between John and the nation's landowning barons, and guarantees the king will uphold the law, respect freedom of the church, and respect the feudal rights and privileges of the barons. The Magna Carta failed in its main intent; it was issued to appease the barons, who ignited civil war anyway. John would die less than a year after issuing the Magna Carta, and it would be re-issued by his successor, William III, in 1217, and again in 1225. Its main impact on modern day law is to establish the right of the accused to a trial by jury. On June 15, 1864, Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant attack Petersburg, VA, a vital rail center 23 miles south of Richmond, the Confederate capital. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia is in defense. His men successful repel 3 days of attacks by the Federals, but by June 18, Grant has nearly 100,000 troops surrounding the city, and begins to entrench for a siege. He will keep Lee contained at Petersburg until early April the following year. When Lee finally evacuates the city, the end of the war is only a week away.
To be my usual pedantic self the Magna Carta also established the king is not above the law and answerable to the barons...which became Parliament. This BTW lead to the continued erosion of royal power to where it is today. It also lead to Charles I losing his head.
On June 16, 1903, Henry Ford and 12 prospective stockholders meet and sign the paperwork creating the Ford Motor Company. The company is officially incorporated the following day, when the Michigan secretary of state’s office received the articles of association. On the same day in 1911, Charles Flint merges several companies that had developed technology for calculating the most 3 recent US Census in C-T-R, The Computer Tabulating and Recording Company. In 1924 he will rename the firm International Business Machines (IBM). On June 16, 1858, newly nominated senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln addresses the Illinois Republican Convention in Springfield and warns that the nation faces a crisis that could destroy the Union. Speaking to more than 1,000 delegates in an ominous tone, Lincoln paraphrased a passage from the New Testament: “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” Lincoln's remarks are seen as "radical" and "inappropriate", and he will lose the Senate election. On June 16, 1965 at Columbia Records’ Studio A in Manhattan, Bob Dylan and a band of studio musicians record "Like A Rolling Stone.” Dylan and manager Albert Grossman were thrilled by the finished product, but the sales and marketing staff of Columbia Records did not agree. At 6:34, “Like A Rolling Stone” was nearly twice as long as the average single, and its raw rock sound was way outside the comfort zone of a label best known for artists like Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis. But another Columbia exec named Shaun Considine slipped the recording to a couple of NYC club deejays. Within days, Columbia's switchboard was flooded with calls to release "the new Bob Dylan single." Columbia responded by splitting the song and releasing it as both sides of the same '45, but upon the album's release, radio DJ's quickly began defying programming standards by playing the full 6:34 version. “Like A Rolling Stone” peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop charts (edged out byThe Beatles' "Help"). In 2004, Rolling Stone would name "Like A Rolling Stone" the greatest song of all time. On June 16, 1884, the first roller coaster in America opens at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. Known as a switchback railway, it was the brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson, traveled approximately six miles per hour and cost a nickel to ride. The new entertainment was an instant success and by the turn of the century there were hundreds of roller coasters around the country.
